Spolia opima
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- See Spolia for Roman reuse of building rubble, and Spolia (disambiguation) for other meanings
Spolia opima (or "rich spoils/trophies") refers to the armor, arms, and other effects that an ancient Roman general had stripped from the body of an opposing commander slain in single, hand-to-hand combat. Though the Romans recognized and put on display other sorts of trophies--such as standards and the beaks of enemy ships--spolia opima were considered the most honorable to have won and brought great fame to their captor.
Over the course of their entire history, the Romans recognized only three instances of spolia opima having been taken. The first was by Romulus from Acro, king of the Caeninenses; the second by Aulus Cornelius Cossus from Lar Tolumnius, king of the Veientes; the third by Marcus Claudius Marcellus from Viridomarus, king of the Gaesatae (a Celtic warband). As the first two figures are legendary, or semi-legendary, it may be said that Marcus Claudius Marcellus is the only Roman figure ever to have accomplished this feat.
[edit] Political Implications
Of course, while these noted above are the only recognized instances, there is a case where the honour was not awarded despite the fact that the act itself had (it is likely) been achieved. The man concerned (Marcus Licinius Crassus, not to be confused with the man of the same name who died some years previous) had defeated an enemy leader in single combat (in Macedonia) and was thus eligible to claim the honour of spolia opima.
The main reason that Crassus' victory was downtrodden (he had no Roman Triumph upon his return to Italy) has a lot to do with the charged political atmosphere of Rome at the time. His victory occurring when it did, the chronological proximity to the initial settlement of the Emperor Augustus (then Octavian) meant that the spolia opima was swallowed in an effort to consolidate Octavian's position in the eyes of the Senate, dumbing down other military leaders' efforts also. This helped maintain military stability - and uniting the efforts of all Roman leaders at the time helped Octavian strengthen his own military prestige (as we are told in the Res Gestae Divi Augusti) and thus dissuade a relapse into the civil wars wrought previously by factionalism in the Roman armies.
